Project Blütenbunt-Insektenreich promotes golf courses
Blütenbunt-Insektenreich – under this title, areas for flowering and insect-rich meadows are being sought in Schleswig-Holstein. Thanks to the project, which runs from 2020 to 2026 and has a total of 6.45 million in federal funding, the GC Am Donner Kleve has been provided with the seeds for meadows covering around 15,000 square meters.
Federal funding for flowering meadows
Ulrike Ringert, member of the advisory board at GC Donner Kleve and responsible for the course, came across the funding opportunity on the Internet by chance, when she wanted to find out how golf courses best go about creating valuable meadows. A call to the German Landscape Conservation Association (DVL) made it clear that golf courses in Schleswig-Holstein could also benefit from federal funding.
In addition, there is expert advice on the selection of suitable areas and seed and scientific support for the project from the DVL. “The lady who came to see us thought this was super exciting because she had never been on a golf course before,” Ringert recalls of the first encounter. The German Association for Landscape Management mapped the suitable areas of the golf courses, sorted them according to four different soil conditions and selected the appropriate seed, which the club then received free of charge.
Five years of scientific monitoring
“The only thing we had to do was plow up the ground and smooth it out,” Ringert explains. DVL even obtained permission from the local municipal government for the new use of the land as flower meadows. Since seeding, students and association staff have been regular visitors to the Am Donner Kleve site. On several reference areas, the number of insects is determined and the development of the meadows is examined. For a total of five years, the golf club will make the land available for this purpose.
The majority of the members are enthusiastic about the campaign, although Ringert also points out that there is definitely a need for clarification here: “After all, we have created perennial species-rich meadows here, not annual flower meadows. That makes a big difference. You can always see flowers and blossoms, but it simply takes much longer overall than with annual flower meadows.” Ringert has already heard members say, “Well, I guess that didn’t work out. “I then explain it, and the golfers usually find it’s fine again.” First of all, the members just expect a much more colourful flower meadow.
For the club itself, the cooperation is a stroke of luck: “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to afford the expensive seed for such large areas,” sums up Ringert, who is therefore also appealing to other golf clubs to take advantage of this opportunity to receive support from federal funds. More information about the project is available at this link.
